Always Awake To The Smell Of The Coffee

In the dark the stars

Find no cover and must shine

Between their light and my eyes, this

Car window, smudged with old rain

Here I sit

Settled in the passenger seat

Tipping espresso from the worn pink flask

In the dark the trick is

To stick your thumb just inside the cup:

When the thumb is hot, stop pouring.

Drink up, think of

Rain smudge: what it could

Represent.